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  Network Management: Going Back to School May 17, 1999
In a recent column, I postulated that the key to success as a network manager is to develop a sound strategy for addressing the business, technical and personnel issues that reach the corner office. Based on that framework, I've been building a 15-week curriculum.
To have an impact, network managers must be politically effective advocates for technology directions that enhance the enterprise's market position. And they need to be skilled at garnering the resources necessary to do the job right the first time. They need to be able to explain clearly how investing $1 million in a new intranet initiative can lead to enhanced productivity or new business opportunities. And once they get the resources required to do the job, they need to have the sound business-management skills that make for effective executives. Equally important, they must be able to counter ill-conceived technology boondoggles advocated by the many CIO wannabes who haven't got a clue about what constitutes a wise IT investment. It's quite an art to be able to look senior vice presidents in the eye, tell them their idea will never work and make it sound like you're paying them a compliment. This requires credibility based on a solid track record and a good sense of humor--neither of which can be taught, but both of which are essential. Topics for weeks one through five focus on effective management skills required of technical professionals, including gathering business intelligence, understanding where to look for objective analyses of network technologies, operational, tactical and strategic technology planning, organizational budgeting strategies, technology acquisition, outsourcing strategies, and effective project and change management. Technology for a Reason The proportion of time a given network manager focuses on technical issues bears an inverse relationship to the size of the organization. Small organizations often employ "working managers" who have primary technical support responsibilities for one or more services in addition to their supervisory tasks. In medium-sized organizations, a network manager may play a foreman's role, providing occasional backup support for staff members in several technical areas. In large organizations, managers who assume any direct technical responsibility often are viewed with suspicion, both from below and from above. Their willingness to delegate is viewed as a sign of wisdom, but delegation is much more than just assigning work to others. An effective delegator assigns the right tasks to the right people and provides his or her staff members with the support they need to get the job done and the oversight necessary to hold them accountable. It does not follow that the technical aptitude required of a network manager is significantly different in any one of the three situations--small, midsize and large organizations. However, the nature of the technical issues the manager must be able to digest are likely to differ. For example, managers in large organizations may find platform scalability at the top of their issues list, while such concerns may not be so compelling in smaller organizations. Topics for weeks six through 11 focus on the key technology choices and challenges facing today's managers, including internetwork infrastructure choices, distributed processing architecture options, the role of technology standards, network and system security, and network monitoring and management. People Make the Difference I've heard it said that a single gifted programmer can be more effective than 10 average programmers working together. Part of this theory, obviously, relates to the ability of some pros to crank out more code per hour than their colleagues can. But part of this also involves the overhead associated with coordinating the efforts of several individuals. Finding qualified staff is at or near the top of every large-shop network manager's list of priorities. It's increasingly a free agent's market these days--with the best skills sold to the highest bidder. Network managers need to hone their skills in recruiting, selecting and maintaining quality people. This requires the development of strategies for determining the most effective ways of finding talent, as well as the ability to put together both a compensation and benefits package and a work environment that appeals to the best and brightest. And once you hire these people, developing their talents and retaining their services requires lots of work in addition to the premium paycheck. Topics for weeks 12 through 15 include technical recruitment and selection, training and development of technical professionals, compensation and motivation, and, finally, management and assessment of technical professionals. Does this sound like the right content for a course on network management? If not, please e-mail me and tell me what I'm missing. Send your comments on this column to Dave Molta at dmolta@nwc.com. |
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Managerial Prerequisites Many network managers are deficient in their understanding of and focus on the core goals of the enterprises in which they work. But to be effective, nothing is more important than alignment: Technology decisions must have a positive impact on the bottom line. This requires an ability to coordinate technical agendas with business goals. To do so, technology managers need to be effective organizational animals.
